Resident Evil 5's Versus Mode Was, Yes, On The Disc All Along

Capcom caught more than a little flak for charging extra for Resident Evil 5's VS mode. Their excuse? That it was "beyond the initial scope of Resident Evil 5".

Seems Capcom have a strange way of defining what was in the "initial scope" because, as anyone who has downloaded the add-on will have found, the DLC weighs in at a massive 1.8MB. Leading many to suggest that, well, you're not really downloading VS mode at all. You're just downloading a key that unlocks content that was already on the disc. The disc you already paid for.

Course, this practice is nothing new. Nor, of course, would it be entirely unexpected, as Capcom had previously said that VS mode "makes use of the assets that exist in the game".

As of writing, Capcom have yet to respond to our requests for clarification or comment.

Kotaku AU Note: Before everyone jumps on Capcom, to my mind, it's not unreasonable to think the VS mode could be contained in a 1.8MB file. After all, it doesn't require any additional art assets. And a code that merely unlocks what's already on the disc wouldn't need to be even that large. I've asked Capcom for clarification and will let you know what they say.

The Kotaku AU note is totally correct. Basically all the art assets are reused from Mercenaries mode. Even so, unlock codes are around the 100kb mark, so there's some new information there (lobbies/coding to support four players, etc).

Acting like you were ripped off because it's not on the disc is ridiculous, as it was never an advertised feature of the retail product. As always, if you don't like it, don't buy it.

I'm a level designer and a level (unless procedurally generated) would take more than 1.8mb of space. So either the levels are the same as mercenaries mode or they hid the content.

While I question the reason why players are charged for the mode so early after release, Karachi King is right though, the mode was not an advertised feature so Capcom can reserve the right to charge people for it.

David's right, the small file size does not necessarily mean it was already on the disc - in fact, he's also right in suggesting that a simple unlock code probably wouldn't even be that big.

The versus mode is icing on top of what was already a delicious and filling cake, what's the big deal in paying for it? You pay for extra content for many other games, how is this any different? Even if it is on the disc and this is just an unlock code, then you probably should thank Capcom for saving you a larger download.

And as a personal side note, I'm pretty uninterested in it anyway. Co-op Mercenaries Mode is quite literally exactly the kind of multiplayer I wanted from RE5 all along, way back from the very first time I saw the mode in RE4 on Gamecube.

What I find interesting is that the size of the download is too large for a simple unlock code (can't imagine it would be any greater that 20kb or so if that's all it was), but it's too small to be replacing the game's main executable.

My guess is that, yes the content was there, but they've engineered the game knowing that they'll add in the vs mode later and written it in such a way that just requires a config file change rather than a replacement of the main executable.

every company that is responsible for production of so amazing games deserves to take some money extra. if it was to pay 15 euros to unlock a game in the disc its a matter of respect of customers but its so little for me and I am happy to give a little money if the money going to the right persons as a bonus for so detailed work

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